Katherine Garbera - Seducing His Opposition / Secret Nights at Nine Oaks - Seducing His Opposition

Justin nodded. “But we aren’t on vacation.”

“Have you changed your mind?” she asked.

“No. But I don’t like the way you changed yours. What’s going on behind those beautiful brown eyes?” he asked.

She pulled back. She couldn’t do this. It wasn’t like her to just impulsively invite a man back to her room. He was right, what was she thinking?

“Nothing. Nothing is going on,” she said. “I think I had a momentary fever but it is passing now.”

She felt small and a bit rejected. She’d actually never been that bold with a man before. The dress and the way that Justin treated her had made her feel like she was sexy, an enchantress, and now she was realizing she was still just Selena.

“I think we should head back to the hotel. I need to freshen up before heading to dinner. I will meet you there.”

She turned to walk away needing to get back to her room. She needed to find someplace private to sit down and regroup. “No.”

She glanced over her shoulder at him.

“No?”

“That’s what I said. I am not letting you run away,” he said, taking her hand in his. “What’s going on with

you?”

She shook her head and swallowed hard. “I’m sorry. You are making me a little … crazy.”

“That’s good. That’s what I was going for … trying to distract you,” he admitted.

“Well, you did a good job tonight. But that won’t affect me in the boardroom when we are meeting with your group and the community leaders.”

“I didn’t think it would. To be honest I’m trying to even the scales. You have me thinking about your curvy body and kissing you instead of business and I wanted you to think of me.”

“Does that mean you don’t really want a vacation fling with me?”

“Hell, no. I want you more than I want my next breath. But I want you to want it for the right reasons—not because you think it will help you in the boardroom. I do believe we can keep this attraction between us private and explore it.”

She thought about what he was saying. She wanted him and she wasn’t going to deny it. “I’m not—Miami is more than just my home. It’s the place that shaped me into the woman I am today and coming back here is stirring up all kinds of things in me I didn’t expect.”

“Like what?” he asked.

Justin was dangerous, she thought. He made her feel so comfortable and safe that she would tell him almost anything. “This dress for one thing. I bought this for

you.”

“I like it.”

“That was my intention, but at home … in Manhattan I’d never wear this.”

“Good,” he said, leading them back toward the hotel. “Be yourself with me, Selena. I want to see that woman you keep tucked away from the rest of the world. I don’t want to be like every other guy to you.”

“There is no way you could be. My family told me you’re the devil.”

He laughed. It was a strong masculine sound and it made her smile. “I haven’t been called the devil before.”

“To your face,” she said.

“Touché,” he said as they reached the hotel and stepped into the air-conditioned lobby.

Chills spread down her arms and she shivered just a bit. “Are we okay now?” he asked.

“I think so,” she said. “I will meet you—”

“Get whatever you need. I want to take you to Luna

Azul.”

“Why?”

“I want to show you my family,” he said.

“After,” she said. “I need some time to myself before we go to dinner at my grandparents.”

“Really? I was hoping you’d go with me. I don’t want to walk in there by myself.”

“Since when does the devil show fear?” she asked.

“I have no idea, since I’m not the devil,” he said.

“What are you?” she asked.

“Just a man who likes a pretty girl and doesn’t want to screw up again.”

Selena watched him walk away, wondering if she’d underestimated him and if that would be at her own peril.

Justin sat quietly in his car parked on the street in front of the Gonzalez home. Selena had withdrawn into herself and there had been no drawing her out. He had a feeling that Selena’s attitude was the least of his problems as he got out and walked up the driveway to the house.

There was music coming from the backyard and the delicious smells of charcoal and roasting meat wafted around him. This was a cozy neighborhood, the kind of place where he could buy two or three houses and not feel the sting in his checkbook, but a place where he’d never fit in.

Was this what Selena had been talking about when she said Luna Azul didn’t belong in Little Havana? “Amigo , you coming?”

The guy who walked by him was in his early twenties with close-cut dark hair and warm olive-colored skin. He wasn’t as tall as Justin and his face was friendly.

“I am indeed,” Justin said. He had a six-pack of Land-shark beer in one hand and some flowers for Selena’s grandmother.

“How do you know Tomas?” the young man asked.

“We’re in business together.” Justin wasn’t about to pretend he had any other reason to be here. In fact, in light of his drinks with Selena he thought wooing her was going about as smoothly as the entire buying-the-marketplace deal. What was it with the Gonzalez family? Was it impossible to find a common path with them?

“Truly? My abuelito usually doesn’t do business with … wait a minute, are you Justin Stern?”

“That’s me,” he said. Great, nice to know that he already had a reputation here and he hadn’t even arrived yet.

“Oh, ho, you have some guts showing up here,” the kid said.

“I was invited, and I’m not a bad guy,” Justin told him. “I am trying to find a way to make that market viable, not to run your grandparents out.”

The kid tipped his head to the side, studying him. “I’m watching you.”

“I’m glad. Family should look out for one another. And I’m not going to take advantage of your grandparents or your family. My main concern is making money from the property we bought.”

“Is money all you care about?”

Justin shook his head. He saw Selena walking up toward the house from where they stood in the shade of a large palm tree. She’d changed from the sexy dress she had worn earlier into a pair of khaki walking shorts and a sleeveless wraparound top. She was enchanting, he thought.

He forgot about how unwelcome this guy was making him feel and focused on Selena.

“Leave him alone, Enrique. He’s not a bad guy,” Selena said as she came up to them.

“He told me the same thing,” Enrique said. “Are you sure about him?”

Selena shrugged. “Not one hundred percent but I’m getting there.”

“If we do business with your family,” Enrique said, turning to Justin, “I want to talk to you about deejaying at Luna Azul. Why do you only hire New York and LA deejays?”

Justin had very little to do with the everyday running of the nightclub he owned with his brothers. “I don’t have an answer for that but I can find out. If you send me a demo tape—”

“I don’t think Enrique wants to work for you,” Selena said.

“I’ll make my own decisions, tata,” Enrique said. He reached around Justin and hugged her. She hugged him back.

“Enrique is my little brother,” she said.

“I’m taller than you now, sis. I think that makes me your ‘big’ little brother,” Enrique said with a grin that was familiar to Justin. He’d seen it on Selena’s face a few times.

“You’ll always be my baby brother,” she said, looping her arm through Enrique’s and Justin was relegated to following the two siblings up the walk to the house.

Justin had the feeling he’d always be an outsider. Too bad his little brother wasn’t here tonight. This was exactly the type of party that Nate was better at than he was.